Key ejecting means



Feb. 6, 1962 A. c. ROBERSON 3,019,634

KEY EJECTING MEANS Filed May 22, 1959 Alfred C. Roberson 1N VEN TOR.

United States Patent 3,01%634 KEY ElESTlNG MEANS Alfred C. Roberson,1111 11th St. NW., Canton, Ohio Filed May 22, 1959, Ser. No. 815,103Claims. (Cl. 70-388) The present invention generally relates to a lockdevice and more particularly to a key ejecting lock which incorporates astructure for ejecting the key from the lock when the key is not inoperative position.

It is a well known problem that keys are quite often inadvertently leftin looks. For example, the ignition keys of automobiles are quite oftenleft in the ignition switch lock which results in unauthorized use of arela tively large number of automobiles. This problem also exists onvarious other types of locks such as door locks, cabinet locks and thelike. Heretofore, there have been attempts to provide a mechanism forforcing the key out of the lock when the key is in a neutral orinoperative condition. These previous devices generally fall into twocategories with one category involving a spring mechanism disposedbetween the face of the lock and the handlev portion of the key. Theother category is the provision of a. spring mechanism engaged with theend of the key with the spring generally being in coaxial alignment withthe key. The major objection to these devices and the reason that theyare not currently being used extensively is the continuous pressure onthe key exerted at all times which causes excessive wear in the key andthe mechanism of the lock associated with the key thus causing arelatively short life for the key and lock mechanism. Therefore, it isthe primary object of the present invention to provide a key ejectionlock in which the pressure of the spring ejecting means engages theinner end of the key when the key is in unlocked or inoperativecondition with the pressure being transferred to the body or stationarypart of the look when the key is rotated to operating position thuseliminating the pressure on the key when the key is in operatingorworking condition.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a key ejectionlock in which a spring urged plunger is mounted in parallel relation tothe rotatable barrel or cylinder of the lock and includes a projectingpin extending laterally through a slot into engagement with the notchedinner end of a key with the body of the lock having a transverse groovethat will receive the pin when the pin is swung laterally thus receivingthe pressure exerted by the pin as soon as the lock cylinder or barrelis rotated with the return rotation of the lock cylinder or barrelpicking up the pin and swinging it back into position so that the keywill be automatically ejected when the lock cylinder or barrel reaches aneutral or inoperative position.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a key ejectionlock which is relatively simple in construction, easy to use, longlasting, well adapted for its particular purposes and generallyinexpensive to manufacture.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawing forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the key ejection lock of the presentinvention illustrating the same mounted in a closure member;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of the construction of the key ejectionlock with portions thereof broken away 3,019,634 Patented Feb. 6, 1962for illustrating the structural details of the device in key ejectingposition;

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE 2 but with the key pushed all theway inwardly for rotation and operation of the lock;

FIGURE 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the spring urged plungerillustrating the construction thereof;

FIGURE 5 is a transverse sectional view illustrating the orientation ofthe spring urged plunger, pin, and key; FIGURE 6 is a sectional viewsimilar to FIGURE 5 illustrating the positions of the spring urged pinwhen the lock barrel or cylinder in the key are moved to operatingposition; and

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary perspective view of a modified form of theejector.

Referring now specifically to the drawings, the numeral 1f; generallydesignates the key ejection lock of the present invention which for.purposes of description are illus-. trated as being mounted in a closuremember 12 which may be a door or the like but may also be any other typeof supporting mechanism depending upon the use for, which the keyejection lock is intended. I v

The key ejection lock 10 includes a housing 14 having a peripheralflange 16 atone end thereof and provided with a rotatable cylinder orbarrel 18 which has a slot 24) for receiving the notched and groovedshank 22 of a key 24. The shank 220i the key 24 is provided with a notch26 in the outer end thereof with the notch 26 eing disposed on theedge'of the key remote from the transverse notches and recesses. Asillustrated, the body 1 is attached to a backing or carrying plate 28 byscrew fasteners 30 with the carrier plate 28 being secured and supportedin any suitable manner. The plate 28 is provided with a cylindricalmember 32 extending in parallel relation to the body 14 and spacedvertically therebelow. The cylindrical member 3 2 slidably receives aplunger 34 having an elongated slot 36 therein. A coil spring 38 isanchored to a transverse. member 40 carried by the cylindrical member 32and extending through the slot 36. a The other end of the springv 38abuts the inner end of the closed end slot 36 thus resiliently urgingthe plunger 34 towards the body 14. As shown in FIGURE 3, the inner endof spring 38 has an offset longitudinal projection 39 received in asocket in plunger 34 whereby the spring urges the plungerto a normalangular position. The'free end of the plunger 34 is provided with aradially extending'pin 42 which extends through a longitudinal slot 44in the bottom of body 14 and through a longitudinal slot 46 in thebottom of the barrel or cylinder 18 whereby the pin 42 may extend intothe slot 20 and engage the recessed end 26 of the key 24-.

The inner end of the body 14 is provided with a transverse slot 48communicating with slot 44 for allowing swinging movement of the pin 42.Thus, when the key 24 is moved inwardly, the notch '26 will engage thepin 42 and force the plunger 34 in thus compressing the spring 38. Whenthe key and the lock barrel 18 are turned, the pin 42 will swingarcuately out of the slot 46 and into the transverse slot 48 and engagethe body 14 for transmitting the resilient force thereto during normaloperation of the key. Thus, no pressure is exerted on the key except forduring the initial swing of arcuate movement of the pin 42. Turning ofthe plunger 34 also tensions the torsion spring 38 about itslongitudinal axis which urges the pin 42 towards a vertical position.This allows the pin to move completely out of the slot 46 which enablesthe barrel or cylinder 18 to turn to any angular position but still havethe pin 42 re-enter the slot 46 when the barrel and key are moved toinoperative position.

The operation and structural details of the key and lock aresubstantially conventional except for the notch 26 in the key shank andthe plunger 34, pin 42 and asso ciated mechanism and the slots forreceiving the pin 42.

It is pointed out even when the spring 38 is fully extended asillustrated in FIGURE 2, there isstill a relatively long bearing area ofthe plunger 34 within the cylindrical member 32 thereby preventingcanting and binding of the plunger 34 when the plunger 34 moveslongitudinally from the position illustrated in FIGURE 2 to the positionillustrated in FIGURE 3.

FIGURE '7 illustrates a modified form of the device in which thecylindrical member 32 has a longitudinal slot 50 therein which receivesthe pin 42' on plunger 34'. The inner end of slot 50 communicates with atransverse or arcuate peripheral slot 52 which receives the pin 42' whenthe barrel 18 is rotated whereby the cylindrical member 3 2' will takethe longitudinal force exerted by the compressed spring. The length ofthe plunger and cylindrical member may vary as required.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

' What is claimed as new is as follows:

1'. A key ejection lock comprising a stationarily supported lock body, arotatable lock barrel received within said body and including mechanismfor preventing rotation of the barrel until a key is inserted into thebarrel for releasing this mechanism, said lock body and barrel having alongitudinal slot therein, a spring urged plunger supported in parallelrelation to the longitudinal axis of the barrel and body, a pinextending laterally from said plunger and projecting through said slotsfor engagement bythe key when the key is inserted into the barrel andfor ejecting the key from the barrel when the key is in inoperativeposition, said body having a transverse slot at the inner end of thelongitudinal slot for receiving the pin when the barrel is rotated ineither direction whereby the spring pressure will be transferred fromthe plunger to the body as long as the key is in operative position,spring means connected to said plunger and biasing said pin toward saidbarrel whereby the slot in the barrel will pick up the pin when the keyis rotated to inoperative position thereby transferring the pressure tothe key when the key is rotated to inoperative position.

2. The structture as defined in claim 1 wherein said plunger issupported in a longitudinally elongated cylindrical member with aportion of the plunger having sub-' stantial bearing engagement with thecylindrical member throughout the length of movement of the plunger,said spring means including a coil spring having one end anchored to theplunger, the other end of the spring being anchored to the cylindricalmember thereby resiliently biasing the plunger and pin towards the faceof the lock body, said coil spring tortionally biasing said plungerabout its longitudinal axis and urging said pin towards said barrel.

3. In a lock mechanism having a rotatable barrel receiving a key, aspring biased pin extending radially into the barrel for engagement withthe key and for ejection of the key when the key is in inoperativeposition within the barrel, means supporting said pin for movement in anarcuate swinging pattern for movement laterally away from the key andbarrel when the key is rotated to operative position, said pin beingspring biased about its axis of arcuate movement toward the barrel formovement into the barrel for engaging and ejecting the key when the keyis moved to inoperative position.

4. A key ejection lock mechanism comprising a lock body having arotatable cylinder therein and mounted to preclude longitudinalmovement, said cylinder slidably receiving an operating key, springoperated means sup ported from the body and including a pin disposed inperpendicular relation to the axis of rotation of the cylinder, saidbody and cylinder having a longitudinal slot therein for movablyreceiving the pin with the pin extending into the path of the keythereby normally spring biasing the key outwardly of the cylinder, saidbody having a transverse slot at the inner end of the longitudinal slotwhereby the pin may be swung laterally into the transverse slot forreleasing the key and cylinder from the pin when the key is rotated to afunctioning position thereby freeing the key and cylinder from axialspring pressure, said pin being spring biased towards the cylin der forurging the free end thereof into engagement with said slot in thecylinder when the key and cylinder are returned to neutral position.

5. The combination of claim 4 wherein said spring operated meansincludes a plunger carrying said pin, a longitudinal sleeve guide forsaid plunger, and slot means on the guide for engaging the pin whenswung laterally out of the transverse slot and receiving the axialpressure exerted by the pin and relieving the lock mechanism from axialspring pressure when in operative position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,766,493 Fairchild June 24, 1930 2,179,947 Miller Nov. 14, 19392,830,448 Monest Apr. 15, 1958

